The Burghers of Calais

Thursday, November 8. A little rain last night and this morning but it looks like its going to be just another cloudy day in Paris!

Meet Daniele at Alliance Francaise for lunch. I am so fond of this courageous and talented young man. It's always a challenge to understand what he's saying as his speech is not clear (like that of a person who learned to speak without being able to hear, which he is) AND he's speaking French with an Italian accent! But most of the time I'm successful. He may still be in Paris next spring. (He has job opportunities in both Milan and Paris - tough choice, huh? - and his parents are putting NO pressure on him to choose Milan. But we agree that it's tiring to spend every day speaking a "foreign" language. He doesn't know what he will do.) If not, I will visit him in Milan sometime when I visit Deborah and Giovanni. I can just imagine that conversation: Janet and Daniele speaking French, Janet and Deborah and Giovanni speaking English, Daniele and Deborah and Giovanni speaking Italian! I definitely want to meet Daniele's parents - they must be extraordinary people. Daniele tells me that his father speaks fluent French because he spent part of his early years in Switzerland and his mother knows some French. Everyone here is so multi-lingual!

Pick up results of BULATS (Business Language Testing Service) test that I took at AF in September. For oral comprehension, I squeak into the B2 level (Intermediaire superieur) by the skin of my teeth. For written comprehension and knowledge of the language, I'm solidly in the middle of the C1 level (Avance). So I'm pleased. Frankly, I'm stunned that I made it into B2 for oral comprehension as I took this test on September 20th after I'd been here two weeks. I'm guessing that I would move up considerably (within the B2 level) if I took it again now. Certainly, my telephone comprehension is a lot better!

Walk up r. Saint Placide to r. du Bac and then down r. de Varenne to the Musee Rodin. This lovely small museum is in the Hotel Biron, a beautiful 17th century mansion that Rodin bought during his lifetime with the idea that it would become a museum after his death. In fact, Rainer-Maria Rilke was a tenant in the Hotel Biron and showed the building to Rodin which led to his buying it. How cool is that? (OK, it's a 9!) A sign in the vestiare says that the building will be undergoing some renovation as 600,000 visitors each year have caused much wear and tear, especially on the parquet floors!

All of the works by Camille Claudel are off gallivanting in Spain! Quelle dommage. The last time I was here, I loved seeing her works and learning the story of her relationship with Rodin and their artistic influence on each other.

Each time I come I find I am drawn to something different. Last time, it was Camille Claudel, Rodin's most famous student, his muse and his lover. When I was younger, I was thrilled by The Kiss. I don't think anyone has ever conveyed love -nay, passion - in marble as well as Rodin. (Hey, he loved women!). And I look at Balzac differently now after having seen Edward Steichen's photographs at the Jeu de Paume.


This time I'm most taken by the story of the Burghers of Calais (and also by the story of what Rodin went through to get his sculpture accepted) so I spend a lot of time in the garden looking at the full size version of this amazing sculpture after seeing the smaller models in the museum.
I'll finish this later so check back in to learn the story of the heroic burghers of calais.